Crescent Island
Daughter city to White City, Crescent Isle is run by Aura Silverwing-Vladden, who bargained for the island to home the refugees when Cipher fell. Here they started a new life, and support White City as the mother country. Otherwise, Crescent is largely independent, with its own military and governmental structure. The island was left largely uninhabited by White after its city was destroyed in a massive hurricane several centuries ago, and since became a secluded habitat for several dragons and other dangerous but rare creatures, which prevented human re-settlement before the arrival of Aura and her people. The great silver dragon was naturally able to compete with these creatures for territory, and either calmed or drove away the most violent of these creatures. Since then, Crescent has become a thriving port city, with Faerune's greatest shipyards and a considerable economy based on trade and shipping across the world. Geography As an island, Crescent is of course rich in water - the island is long and mostly thin, arching in a great crescent shape (hence its name) with the interior bay facing the mainland. The area around this bay is the most livable for humans, with a great open plain and forest surrounding the island's only proper city. The 'back' side of the island is largely covered by the great Crescent mountain range, dominated by Crescent Mountain - a massive dormant volcano within which Aura has made her lair. The side of the mountains facing away from the city is largely unexplored by humans, and contains the lairs of most of the island's dragons and other rare creatures. The island's soil is fertile, though its northern climate means that the growing season is relatively short. The ancient forests supply ample lumber and main-mast material for the isle's shipbuilding industry as well. Government and Military The government of Crescent is fairly loose, and the island's policies tend to reflect the relatively laid-back and cooperative nature of its people. Having been formed from a core of people who barely escaped Cipher with their lives, these people learned to depend on one another years ago, and with Aura as the central point and anchor for their structure, the residents of the Isle tend to have little problems amongst themselves. Practicality and common-sense are valued (lest Aura arrive and deliver a minor tirade about people being assholes), and situationes tend to be resolved quickly if possible. The government is a representative form, with reps chosen from various areas and professions around the city on a yearly basis by random ballot (citizens have the right to decline, but it is considered shameful to do so). Aura herself serves in more of an advisory role than as an active ruler - she attends most meetings of the council and lends her input - sometimes more forcefully than others. As both their current protector and the one who delivered them from near-death, her words carry great weight - she simply chooses not to excercise the authority she might otherwise have. The military force of the Isle is based on the old Cipher military, and is centered around a relatively small group of highly trained and skilled Knights. Known as the Silver Knights (for Aura, who was the original founder and Captain of the order in Cipher), each of these elite soldiers is skilled with a weapon and some aspect of magic or other supernatural power. Their gear is expertly crafted, with many carrying weapons crafted by Hotsu herself, or enchanted by the archmage Asake at Aura's request. Each Knight is trained at one point or another by Aura herself - and none enters their ranks without personally sparring with her. Knights serve both as an elite strikeforce and as the leadership of the common soldiers and Guard. These troops are drawn from the citizenry, and are trained in tactics against humans and magical creatures - once a year they even train against some of the isle's dragons, giving them a considerable reputation for courage, ferocity, and tactics against more powerful foes. Many warriors in both classes are nonhuman - vampires are especially common, thanks to their proliferation back in Cipher. Trade As a port city, Crescent's economy depends primarily on shipping and shipbuilding. The majority of Faerune's waterborne trade passes through Crescent at one point or another, and its shops can be found selling products from all over the world. Crescent's shipyards produce the finest ships in Faerune, and it also boasts many of the best carpenters and craftsmen partially as a result of this. Merchants and craftspeople reside on the isle also because it allows them to sell to any other country more easily than in many other nations - or to take advantage of the skilled guards that are highly effective at preventing theft. Religion and Holidays Like many trade cities, Crescent's diversity means that many different religions are practiced there. Representatives of nearly every nation and religion on Faerune can be found on Crescent somewhere. As a nation, however, Crescent celebrates many of the same holidays as White, with the addition of Landing Day (which celebrates the city's founding less than a decade ago) and the Winter Ice festival occurs when much of the bay freezes over in the winter, and is marked by scores of iceboats and skaters on the hard ocean ice. In years where there is insufficient cold to produce said ice, Aura can be counted on to produce it for her people with a few breaths. The bay rarely freezes for long, and if it does the island's casters and dragons are asked to break it up - a port city can hardly function when frozen over. Category:Kingdoms